A junior prison officer who murdered one of his four girlfriends will now spend the rest of his life behind bars.

The High Court on Thursday sentenced Lim Wee Thong, 48, to life imprisonment and the maximum of 24 strokes of the cane in light of the viciousness of his attack on Ms Loh Nyuk Moi, 48. Lim, a prison sergeant, was married with a teenage son but had four girlfriends who gave him money to pay off his bills and loans from various banks.

In February 2011, he brutally stabbed Ms Loh, at the Yung Ping Road flat she had earlier sold off under an en bloc scheme. She had 10 stab wounds in her body - three pierced the heart and two penetrated the lungs. Her body was later found by her younger brother and uncle.

Around the time Ms Loh was killed, Lim withdrew $14,500 from her bank accounts. He was arrested several days later at a shopping mall while he was out with another of his girlfriends. He claimed after his arrest that she had stabbed herself.

Lim initially went on trial for murder with intent to kill, which carries the mandatory death penalty. However, the prosecution later amended the charge to murder with intent to cause bodily injury, which gives the judge the discretion to impose either the death penalty or life imprisonment with caning.

Lim pleaded guilty to the amended charge on Thursday. The prosection did not press for the death penalty but sought a severe caning sentence, pointing to how he had taken the life of a woman who cared for him and gave him money to pay off his debts.